1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to the field of aircraft display units that provide information to the pilot or flight crew of an aircraft.
2. Description of the Related Art
The savings of time and/or costs are important to operators of aircraft. Operating an aircraft is not inexpensive, and a main cost of powered aircraft is fuel. If the operator can save time while operating an aircraft, then he or she might be able to save money. If the operator is able to shorten the taxi distance prior to takeoff, then he or she can reduce the amount of time.
Occasionally, at airports with relatively long runways, there may come a time in which the pilot does not need to taxi the aircraft to the end of the runway to perform a safe takeoff. Instead, a mid-field takeoff may be available if the pilot is aware of how much distance is available on the takeoff runway. When available, this offers an opportunity to save both time and fuel costs. The opportunity to reduce airport congestion may become available where an aircraft can takeoff sooner from a mid-field location.
In order to take advantage of this opportunity, the pilot will need to monitor the location of his or her aircraft position in relation to the takeoff runway and/or monitor how much runway distance is available from the aircraft's current location. This could force the pilot to make instant estimates about the aircraft's current location and the distance from such estimated location to the end of the runway in order to decide at that time whether there is a sufficient amount of remaining runway to perform a safe takeoff.